Chapter 1

When it comes to federalism, it is not the easiest to pinpoint the exact meaning. Federalism can be defined as the distribution of power in an organization between a central authority and a voting member of a community (Merriam, Webster). It can be described as one of two fundamental organizational principles of the U.S Constitution. The other basic organizational principle, such as separation of powers, involves the distribution of powers within the National Government. It is said that federalism is the single most important protection for our freedom ( Nagel, 181). There are many different types of federalism, including Dual, Cooperative, Regulated, and New federalism.

Lastly we move to federal government this is one in which the powers of government is divided between a central government and several local governments. There is a authority superior to both the central and local governments which makes this division of powers on a geographic basis; That division cannot be changed by either the local or national level acting alone. Both levels of government act directly on the people through their own sets of laws, the officials, and agencies. In the United States, for example the National Government has certain powers and the 50 states have others. This division of powers is set out in the Constitution of the United States.

November 15th, 1777, the Continental Congress created the Articles of Confederation. During this time, the Americans’ looked back on their experience with the powerful British government and decided they would do the opposite. The American’s wanted to ensure enough power for the government to do its job, but not creating too much power for individuals or groups. With the idea of the dreadful government in Britain, the colonist decided to use their new power and divide the federalism in a way that gives the states more power. Some of their priorities included a protection of rights and liberties as well as individual state power. Within this confederation, all the states had their independence and their own sovereign government. With this “firm league of friendship”, there opened a door for many drawbacks.

At every turn, the states stymied the government, harming it more and more. Further telling of the inability of the Articles was the internal struggles not only within the USA, but within her own government.

If Howard Zinn is correct in his characterization of the Constitution of 1787 as creating a government through which a national elite might pursue its interests and establish political control over the United States, the 1790s witnessed a vitriolic, often violent struggle among that elite to define the meaning of the Republic. Bitter conflicts over constitutional interpretation, economic policy, and the intrusion of foreign affairs divided the elite and polarized the domestic landscape. The course of that conflict would result in the rise of the first party system in the United States and lay the foundation for a steadily expanding democratic political culture.

The debate between who should hold more power; the state or federal government, has been debated and discussed since the inception of our nation. The original debate was centered on two opposing parties and their respective ideas, the Federalists and Anti-Federalists. Due to the numerous debates and shifting political climates, the powers have shifted between the states and federal government several times through the nation’s short history.

Throughout the years, several Court Cases in the United States have demonstrated the power of the Federal Government over the states. The Constitution of the United States assert the principles to govern the country and the distribution of power between the States and the Federal Government. However, “Necessary and Proper Clause” or “Elastic Clause” and the “Commerce Clause” give the Federal Government more power over the states. Furthermore the Commerce Clause give Congress the power to regulate interstate and foreign countries commerce. In others words, Congress has the power to regulate things that have direct effect in commerce.

Those who desired a strong unitary government insured in a loose interpretation of the Constitution, with the example of the elastic clause. The elastic clause is found in Article one, section eight and gives the power to congress to pass all laws they view as necessary and proper. As a result Congress is able to carry out enumerated powers, which gives power to the Federal government and is a direct reflection of the viewpoints of the Federalists. On the contrary, those who opposed a strong central government were able to gain the addition of the Bill of Rights to the Constitution. The Bill of Rights are the first 10 amendments to the Constitution and preserved that the rights of the people would not be taken advantage of by the strong unitary United States government.

The Founding Fathers achieved a just government with the balance of the state and federal government. The state government is a more direct representation of the citizens, so the states were seen as a more direct voice for the people. A strong federal government had been needed to control the states as a whole. At this time confusion ensued the states because each state was sovereign, so the basic laws were not consistent throughout the country. Alexander Hamilton describes the issue of sovereign states as each state believed that they had earned the power to make their own laws after the Revolutionary War. States became jealous of one another, and each state served themselves with new laws. With the Constitution there was now a balance between the state and federal government. Responsibilities were

When it comes to the topic of government power most of us can agree that having a government is a good idea. Where this argument usually ends, however, is on the question of the way government’s powers are delegated. Whereas some are convinced that the means of the delegation are just fine the way they are. Others maintain he idea that the federal level of government has too much power in their hands. I believe that the means of delegation are just fine as they are. Although it is necessary that the federal government back the state government, I think that the state government should be the ultimate decision maker in their state.

Really the country over states are snaring for, and routinely winning, more significant control of how they run different other government programsStates have expanded a couple controls officially held for the administration, however a broad part of the cause behind that was that individuals all in all had turned out to be continuously confused with the national government's inability to get it done. In addition various people are putting their trust in State governments, they have to show they can meet the troubles of an extended part in managing. Government Sovereignty versus States Rights was not another issue to the United States. To begin with appearing in the midst of the piece of the Constitution and continuing through Hamilton's Bank and the Federalist Papers, this reasonable examination fumed straightforwardly into the nineteenth century, beginning with the Hartford Convention, where delegates recommended that a state had the benefit to "intercede power" for a circumstance of "unsafe and evident infractions." For any situation, this was only the first in a movement of disputes that would finally, realize basic war. The accompanying genuine step was the treatment of cases for associations. In the midst of

Today, the United States of America operate under the system of federalism. Having a federal government means that the power is divided, in the case of the U.S., between a central national government and the 50 individual state governments. The fundamental principle of the federal system is that both, the national government, as well as the state governments derive all of their authority and power from the people, the citizens of the United States. The nation’s Constitution specifies which powers are guaranteed to whom. The powers granted to the national government are called enumerated powers whereas the state powers are called reserved powers. Powers shared by both the national and the state governments are summarized as concurrent powers.

Denied Powers - Powers are not allowed to either the federal or state governments. This was a way in which the founding fathers attempted to create a limited

In contrasted state laws are for the people; giving them power and not just the states. The Supreme Court took away national power and aggressively work to strengthen the other roles foe states. States

The term "federalism" describes the changing relationship between the national and state governments as they sort out their roles and responsibilities within the federal system. America has a decentralized government; there is no single source of power or center of government. Federalism goes well with pluralism, because of the multiple centers of power that exist in the government, and also the many divisions of power. There are several levels of government including the federal government, the 50 states, county and city governments and independent school districts. However, the major players are the national and state governments. The tensions between the two are clear when it comes to civil rights, money, and power.